Pakistani women march for rights despite threats

Demand for greater freedoms and opportunities angers conservatives in traditionally patriarchal society

Participants in Pakistan's Aurat March shout slogans during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad on March 8, 2020. AFP

Tempers flared in Islamabad on Sunday as protesters marched to celebrate International Women's Day in an ultra-conservative society where females are still put to death under ancient "honour" codes.

Such events spark controversy in patriarchal Pakistan, and at one point in the capital Islamist counter-protesters hurled sticks and stones at women's rights demonstrators, causing some injuries and forcing a crowd of people to seek cover before the police intervened.

Women march in Pakistan's capital Islamabad to mark International Women's Day on March 8, 2020. AFP

Pakistani riot police stand guard to separate marchers demanding women's rights and a counter-protest staged by conservatives in Islamabad. AFP

An activist of the Aurat March in Islamabad with a slogan reading 'freed woman' painted on her face. AFP

Activists of the Pakistani religious party Jamaat-e-Islami stage a counter-protest in Islamabad to mark International Women's Day. AP Photo

A fence separates rival rallies for and against greater women's in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on the International Women's Day 2020. AFP

The tensions follow on from last year's Aurat March – from the Urdu word for women – which sparked a furious backlash when participants held placards with slogans such as "My body, my choice".

In a society where women have been shot, stabbed, stoned, set alight and strangled for damaging a family's "honour", such expressions have seen marchers accused of promoting western, liberal values and disrespecting religious and cultural sensitivities.

This year, anti-march campaigners filed unsuccessful court petitions to try to ban Sunday's events, and a religious political party warned it would stop the march at "all costs".

In Islamabad, tensions rose when about 1,000 women and men gathered to call for greater reproductive and other rights. The march ended at a park alongside a separate "anti-feminist" Islamist rally, with the duelling protests separated only by a flimsy barrier and a line of police.

"The women in Pakistan are considered property by their male counterparts," said Tahira Maryum, 55. "There is nothing vulgar in asking for your rights," she added.

At the Islamist counter-protest, dozens of women in burqas held their own placards including one saying "Anti-Feminist", while shouting "Our bodies, Allah's choice". Several men were seen throwing sticks and stones at the women's march.

Ismat Khan, 33, said women's rights activists were "naive" and being exploited by non-government groups and "the Jewish lobby".

"We are free and to live our lives are according to Sharia," she said.

In Lahore, a crowd of several hundred women and men took to the streets chanting slogans such as "Give me what's mine" and "We want freedom", while more than 1,000 people gathered in a park in Karachi, chanting slogans, beating drums and singing.

"We are not scared of mullahs, let them be jealous of us," said Anis Haroon, a veteran women's right activist in Karachi.

The nationwide Aurat March also saw a group of women gather in the southern city of Sukkur near the Indus river. The waterway is where the bodies of women who have been slain in "honour" killings are sometimes dumped.

Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of "honour", systemising the oppression of women in matters such as the right to choose whom to marry, reproductive rights and even the right to an education.

Pakistani social media on Sunday was filled with comments both for and against the march with, "HappyWomensDay2020" and "MeraHijabMeriMarzi" (MyHijabMyChoice) both in the top Twitter trends.

Rights activists have long fought against the patriarchal notion of "honour" which remains prevalent across Pakistan. According to estimates, at least 1,000 women fall victim to honour killings in Pakistan each year.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, frequently rated one of the world's worst places to be a woman, a handful of people took to the streets to mark Women's Day.

University graduate Tahmina Ghoori said that while urban Afghan women have seen some progress since the end of Taliban rule in 2001, they still faced many challenges because of "gender inequality and the misogynistic views in our society".

She was especially worried about the possibility of the insurgents returning to power on the back of a US-Taliban deal signed last month.

"We have left a dark era behind, my concern is that if they make a comeback, we will go through the same situation, and women's rights will be trampled again," she said.